By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org As Old Man Winter swoops into Vermont, the state government wants to be sure drivers are paying attention. “Our crews just completed a weekend marathon of plowing, and are now here preparing for the next storm to arrive,” announced Gov. Peter Shumlin at a press conference Tuesday. “And as hard as they work plowing snow, they also look for new ways to make roads safer.” What…
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Free Trade in North America Turns 21 Years Old. Is Free Travel next?
Embracing Free Trade and Movement Would Be a Bold Step Forward By Yaël Ossowski | PanAm Post For outsiders who visit the European continent, they’re quite amazed at the sight of impediment-free travel between countries. Traveling between Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, the Netherlands, and more, one can cross borders without papers and without the questioning of a border guard. That’s the product of the Schengen Agreement, a…
My Cartoon Self
Check out my PanAm Post archive. I write about Canada, Québec, and Media Manipulation.
Bitcoin politician wants to upgrade democracy in Vermont
By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org When Jeremy Hansen ran for political office in 2012, he had no idea his candidacy would spark imaginations across the country. The assistant professor of computer science at Norwich University in Northfield, Vt., ran for the Vermont state Senate for Washington County on a bold platform of using online technology to ask every citizen their view on a particular vote, a system also proposed by then independent congressional candidate Phil Dodds in…
Relaxed Vermont pot laws may lead to legalization
By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org In July of this year, Vermont lawmakers took a bold step. They removed criminal penalties for those caught with small amounts of marijuana. Now, 5 months later, decriminalization of pot is generally judged to be a great success in the Green Mountain State, a sentiment which could push Vermont to be the third state in the union to legalize marijuana outright. “It’s clear…
Canada Should End Its Love of “Hate Speech” Bans
Censorship Contradicts One of the Most Fundamental Principles We Can Observe By Yaël Ossowski | PanAm Post Should it be a crime to believe an alternative version of history? What about publishing photos or writing articles that certain groups may deem offensive or downright hateful? At least in the United States, thanks in large part to the universal acceptance of the First Amendment, these are freedoms which are…
Passing gas: Will seized private land clear way for pipeline?
By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org If you build it, they will come … and take your land. Vermonters might face that scenario if the state’s largest private energy company can get approval for its new natural gas pipeline. Vermont Gas Systems put forth a proposed extension of the Addison Rutland Natural Gas Project pipeline project to bring natural gas to southern counties of the Green Mountain State. Environmental groups have already…
Fox News: Natural gas in Vermont? No fracking way, say green groups
By Yaël Ossowski | Fox News Published November 20, 2013 watchdog.org No drilling, no pipelines, and no natural gas. If environmental groups in Vermont get their way, this could be the new slogan of the Green Mountain state. That’s the message of their latest campaign to oppose the extension of a Vermont Gas Systems pipeline intended to transport shale gas from Canada to New York. Vermont already…
Natural gas in Vermont? No fracking way, say green groups
By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org No drilling, no pipelines, and no natural gas. If environmental groups in Vermont get their way, this could be the new slogan of the Green Mountain state. That’s the message of their latest campaign to oppose the extension of a Vermont Gas Systems pipeline intended to transport shale gas from Canada to New York. Vermont already became the first state in the union to ban the process…
The Watchers of the Watchers Have Flipped
US Intel Oversight Committees Are Biggest Cheerleaders of Privacy Violations By Yaël Ossowski | PanAm Post In the months since revelations about mass surveillance programs deployed by US and foreign leaders came to the public’s attention, there has been formidable outrage at home and abroad. The practice has sowed the seeds of distrust in Germany, troubled relations between the United States and Brazil, and ignited the US population against intelligence…